Severe weather wreaked havoc all day in western Pennsylvania, as flash flooding shut down many roads and created dangerous driving conditions on Wednesday morning, followed by another round of strong thunderstorms in the evening that caused widespread damage and power outages.

Duquesne Light said there are still 9,000 customers in the dark after the storms took down wires and trees throughout the region. Power should be restored in Beaver County, the city of Pittsburgh and eastern suburbs like Penn Hills and Monroeville by late Friday afternoon, followed by the North Hills and western Allegheny County late Friday evening and the South Hills late Saturday evening.

By 10 p.m. Wednesday, the National Weather Service was reporting that 2.44 inches of rainfall had fallen in Pittsburgh, breaking the old record of 1.81 inches that was set in 1958.

In just one hour during the Wednesday evening commute, there were reports of downed trees, poles and/or wires in Kilbuck Township, Sewickley, McCandless, Ross Township, Ohio Township, Penn Hills, Bradford Woods, Marshall Township, Shaler Township, Collier Township, Frazer Township, South Fayette Township, Carnegie, Stowe Township, the North Side and Beechview. And there was a reported lightning strike at a home on Bradley Court in Mt. Lebanon.

Pittsburgh Public Safety Director Mike Huss cautioned motorists against driving through water on flooded roads. He called it a "critical" situation and said, "It continues to be a problem for us. We've got cars that continue to drive through water and then try to back up." Some drivers are also trying to move barriers, which causes even more dangerous situations, he said.

Huss said the city's swift-water rescue teams made "numerous rescues," including a woman on Route 51, and responded to "several emergency and life-threatening situations." Route 51 in the city of Pittsburgh has reopened in both directions after being closed for much of the day.

Banksville Road was impassable near the on-ramp to Interstate 376 for several hours. Sky 4 video showed a car stuck in water on Banksville Road during the flash flooding. The road has reopened.

Part of Streets Run Road in Baldwin Borough was covered by several feet of water. (Watch the video) PennDOT said Streets Run was still closed between Brentwood Road and Mifflin Road as of 11 p.m.

Also, the Oakdale business district and nearly the entire borough suffered heavy flooding. Sky 4 flew over the borough and showed aerial footage of the massive floods. (Watch the video)